Leverett Paddock Hoag

Leverett Hoag, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota Duluth died Tuesday, November 16, 2004. He was a graduate of Moorhead State Teachers College High School in 1933 where he was valedictorian of his class. After completing a bachelor’s of education degree at Moorhead State Teachers College in 1937, Professor Hoag taught meteorology and navigation to flight school candidates, and he also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1958 he was awarded his PhD in geography from the University of Minnesota. He then began his teaching career at the University of Minnesota, Duluth (UMD), where he taught the core physical geography courses for twenty-six years. During his tenure at UMD he served as Department Head for eight years and on many campus committees including the Faculty Council and the University Wide Senate.

Professor Hoag was one of the two principle faculty members essential in the creation and building of the geography department at UMD. As a teacher, he firmly believed in the significant role of geography in the curriculum of the liberal arts college and that geography is orderly knowledge of the diversity of the earth.